Top 20 Most Expensive Keyword Categories in Google AdWords

Not surprisingly, Google have announced a killer last quarter, and raked in a total of $32.2 billion in revenue over the last year. 97% of that revenue comes from from their online advertising platforms, with AdWords being the biggest source of income. Larry Kim, Google’s Word Stream Founder and Chief Technology Officer, shared the search company’s research into the keyword categories that fuel Google’s market domination of Pay-Per-Click advertising – and which ones are the most expensive to bid on.

The 20 keyword categories with the highest search volume and highest costs per click, thereby netting Google the most money, are:

As you will notice from the above list, the majority of the keyword categories represent businesses with a high lifetime customer value. Meaning, these businesses can afford to pay quite a high Cost Per Click (CPC) to acquire potential new customers, as if the lead converts they will still net a high return on investment.

Kim also provided 4 tips to advertising in these categories:

Be Specific: Target a specific group of only 3-5 keywords. I actually would not personally endorse this, as targeting only 3-5 keywords to me is like putting all your eggs in one expensive basket! Steer clear of broad keywords, and use phrase, exact and negative. Do comprehensive keyword research and include longer tail keywords which are more likely to convert, as well as keywords that you know bring in the best return on investment.

Use Negative Keywords: Utilise the negative keyword tool to help determine what kinds of keywords your ads appear for, that may not be relevant. Running a search query report will provide you a list of all search queries that your ads showed for, which can allow you to add non-relevant keywords as negative keywords/phrases.

Be Relevant: Aim and optimise for a high Quality Score (QS), as this can help lower your average CPC. Incorporate your keywords in your headline and/or description, and add unique selling points to stand out from the competition.

Landing Page Optimisation: Set and have a clear goals and objectives for your website and AdWords Campaign so you know what action you want visitors to take when they get there. Google recommends three primary elements of quality when optimising your lading page: relevant and original content, transparency and navigability. Most importantly, ensure you have a clear and direct call to action and show your unique selling points to increase conversions.